Machine and method for mining underground deposits



y 10, 1956 J- G. NUTT ET AL 2,

MACHINE AND METHOD FOR MINING UNDERGROUND DEPOSITS Filed Jan. 21, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet l FlG.-|

FIG.2

INVENTOR. John G.NuH y aRussell G. Huworth ATTORNEY J ly 0, 9 J. G. NUTT EI'AL MACHINE AND METHOD FOR MINING UNDERGROUND DEPOSITS Filed Jan. 21, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. John G. Nut? 8 Russell G.Howorth ATTORNEY July 10, 1956 J. G. NUTT ETAL MACHINE AND METHOD FOR MINING UNDERGROUND DEPOSITS 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 21, 1949 mm pvkrpppp INVENTOR. John 6 Nut? BY 8 Russell G. Hcworth mafim ATTORNEY July 10, 1956 MACHINE AND Filed Jan. 21, 1949 J. cs. NUTT ETAL 2,754,101 METHOD FOR MINING UNDERGROUND DEPOSITS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG. 7

FlG.-8 FIG-9 INVENTOR. John G. Nuft y 8 Russell G. Howor'rh AT ORNEY IVIACHINE AND NIETHDD FOR MINING UNDERGROUND DEPOSITS John G. Nutt and Russell G. Haworth, Carlsbad, N. Mex, assignors to Potash Company of America, Denver, Colo, a corporation of Colorado Application January 21, 1949, Serial No. 71,774 9 Claims. (Cl. 262'9) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in continuous methods and means for mining ores, gypsum, coal, trona, and other relatively soft ores, more particularly sylvinite or (KCl and NaCL) which lies between other deposits of salt. For the most part, the K01 content of such ore increases as the deposit thins out, top to bottom, so that there is an advantage in mining the deposit at a thickness of from three to four feet, except for the ditficulties of working within such limited space with mechanized equipment now available. At present, the mining operation is largely mechanized with machine cutters, loaders, and shuttle cars, working the mined ore to the tracks where it is hauled on mine cars to the shaft; this requiring mining of waste salt from the roof to accommodate mine haulage equipment designed for thicker deposits. This present operation includes preliminary crushing of the ore at the base of the shaft, so that ore is delivered to the surface ready for fine crushing and a flotation refining coupled with secondary treatments of both products of flotation separation for recovery of the maximum KCl content. Consequently, an important object of this invention is to provide methods and means which can be employed in much smaller places and areas, so that the space required for removing the deposit, is no larger than the vein of the deposit removed, which usually runs about three or four feet high, twelve to thirty feet wide and as long as the vein irrespective of its possible tortuous path.

Another object of the invention is to provide method and means for disintegrating the entire face of the deposit with one continuous horizontal sweep of a novel cutter head, so as to produce a finely divided ore which may be pneumatically removed from the face and pneumatically conveying it to a point remote from such face, to thereby eliminate the use of undercutting, blasting, drilling, mucking, shuttle cars, trackage and the coarse crushing operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel cutter head of a type which will cut and disintegrate the face of the vein; is driven by chains carrying cutter bits which cooperate with said head in cutting the deposit; is composed of sections which may be used in varied combinations to disintegrate varying heights and widths of veins with one continuous sweep across the same; and which is provided with gang type cutters mounted in multiple, magnetically or mechanically fastened to the head whereby a whole series of cutter bits can be removed or replaced as a unit to effect. a time saving whenever the bits require sharpening or renewal.

A still further object of the invention is to provide novel arrangements for swinging the disintegrating or cutting mechanism across the face of the vein, propelling the machine in any direction, selectively tilting the mechanism, anchoring it in the room while a cut is being made, providing an electric motor drive and transmission thereof to the cutting mechanism which can operate in a limited three-foot head room, and to generally provide for the nited States Patent 2 economical mining of a deposit with a minimum of surrounding earth disturbance.

Another object of this invention is to disintegrate the ore. to. a fine material which may easily be transported. on small, economical belt conveyers' through low rooms or entries in thin beds of ore. 7

Other objects and advantages of the, invention will be come apparent during the course of the following description.

Inthe accompanying drawings forming a part. of the application and wherein like numerals designate like parts throughout the several views:

Fig. 1 is a horizontal section through a mine, illustrating a top plan of one form of disintegrating machine at work, with pneumatic collection, transportation and treatment of the deposit while being conveyed toward the. shaft;

Fig. 2. is a vertical section of the same;

Fig. 3 is a top plan of one form of disintegrating ma chine;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the same;

Fig. 5 is a top plan of a modified form of disintegrating machine;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the same;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged side elevation of the disintegrating drum or cutting head mounting with parts thereof broken away;

Fig. 8 is a left end elevation of the same looking toward the right in Fig. 7; and

Fig. 9 is a side elevation of the drum with parts broken away.

Referring more particularly to the drawings for details of the invention, the numeral 205 designates the entry of a mine having a lateral room 21 formed by the removal of part of a vein of ore deposit, the face of the vein under operation being designated at 22. The entire area of this room represents the amount of the deposit which has been removed by the improved method and apparatus, and is about three to four feet. high, thirty feet wide and will ultimately be as high, wide and long as the vein is profitable and practical to run. In order to utilize as much of the standard mining equipment and machinery as is now available on the market for carrying out the invention, Figs. 1 to 4 illustrate one form of machine 23 assembled in novel fashion to provide the power and swing movements for a novel cutting mechanism. This machine 23 is essentially made up of two conventional type short-wall cutters A and B, each having standard power mechanism for its various adjuncts housed within bases or housings from each of which, at opposite sides, are equipped with the usual power driven variable speed winches W for winding and unwinding cables C trained around pulleys P and extending laterally from both sides of the machine as shown in Fig. 1. These cables have their outer ends anchored to the opposite sides of the room 21 for swinging the entire machine 23 on a pivot, slowly in making an arcuate cut across face 22, and rapid ly in a reverse movement back to its original position to sump a new cut. The base of the machine 23 is provided at each of its four corners with a hydraulic jack I having a skidfoot F pointed outwardly or laterally of the machine during pivoting thereof and capable of being pointed forwardly when the machine is to be moved forwardly. By operating these jacks, the entire machine can be elevated or tilted to any degree necessary for the mining operation. The. rear end of the machine base is provided with an extensible anchor plate having a vertical aperture 25 therein, through which a stake or pin 202 may be driven into the mine floor, or through which a hydraulic jack may be placed between the roof and floor to form a pivot point from which the machine can be swung in an arc in ,a horizontal plane. A double acting hydraulic jack 26 is positioned to operate between the base of the machine and an abutment upon the anchor plate to slide the latter fore and aft of the machine, or the machine fore and aft of the anchor stake, by operating the valved hydraulic control station S having suitable hydraulic lines to all of the jacks. A motor driven oil pump 27 with hydraulic lines from a reservoir 28 and to the control station is able to transmit a pressure of about 1500 pounds per square inch to each jack.

Extending from the base of the machine A is provided a forward platform 29 and boom 30 along the longitudinal sides of which operate the longitudinal runs of a standard endless cutter chain 31 driven by the usual operating machanisms of the conventional short-wall cutter A. The chain is provided with spaced cutter hits as shown, and travels in the direction shown by the arrow in Fig. 3.

In .order to provide the novel drum-shaped cutting head H, a unique machine is contrived by combining the two short-wall cutters A and B, the latter having its body and mechanism inverted as a unit, and secured upon the platform 29 of machine A with its forwardly extending boom 32 and encompassing endless cutter chain 33 arranged directly above and parallel to the boom 30 and chain 31 and arranged in the same vertical plane with the latter. The drive mechanism and power controls on both machines may be conventional. With particular reference to Fig. 3, 36 represents the winch drum clutch control, 35 being an extension of the control, permitting the operator to engage or disengage the clutch on the winch on machine B from his operating position behind machine A. 37 indicates the extension rod and gearing between the standard clutch control 36 and the clutch control wheel 35, whereas 38 represents the standard clutch control wheels on machine A which need not be extended. The platform 29 is provided at opposite sides with laterally extending outrigger arms 39 terminating in pulleys 40 for the guidance of the cables C as: the machine 23 nears the end of a 90 degree to 180 degree swing in making an arcuate cut as shown in Fig. 1. These cables can also be employed to move the machine 23 straight across the face by sumping in with jack 26 and removing the pin or jack therefrom to allow the machine to be pulled across such a long wall or room face in a straight line.

The novel cylindrical drum-shaped cutter head H driven by cutter chains 31 and 33 in Figs. 1 to 6, inclusive, ineludes a shaft 50 mounted vertically, in ball bearings 51 carried by the outer ends of the booms 30 and 32. This head H is composed of a central drum section 52 keyed to the shaft 50 between the two cutter chains 31 and 33, and two aligned end sections or heads; 53 being the upper head splined to the shaft 50 above the upper chain 33, and 54 the lower head splined on the shaft beneath the lower chain 31. All three of these sections are of the same outside diameter as the bight ends of the cutter chains in order that the three sections will cut to the same depth as the chain bits, and the entire length of the sectional head or drum, mounted on machine 23, will be able to cut continuously across the entire face of the deposit to a depth equal to the diameter of the drum in one sweeping movement, whereas other types of cutting heads would requirement movement laterally in several stages and therefore be less continuous. The cutter bits 55 of each section of the cutter head are fastened in a series of rows to removable bars 56, as best seen in Fig. 4. Each series of bits comprises a plurality of individual bits each fastened to a bar extending longitudinally of the head by a set screw 200 and these bars may be held magnetically or mechanically in grooves in the head by magnets or bolts 201 so that the bits can be rapidly replaced in multiple when necessary. These bars are arranged peripherally around the circumference of the cutter head, as shown, and this construction may be confined to only drum 52; since cutter bits may be fastened to the heads 53 and 54 in any other manner, as

well as by the series bars, as the entire smaller end heads may be replaced as a unit with the bits attached just as easily, if not more quickly than removing the individual bars 56 thereof. The upper cutter head 53 may be made in two sections, inner 57 and an outer one 58, with the inner one 57 keyed on the shaft 50 and provided with lugs 59 peripherally spaced to interlock in correspondingly spaced grooves 60 in the outer section 55; the latter being held on the shaft 50 by a hub abutting the hub of the section 57 and a nut 61 threaded on the end of shaft 50. Thus, only the inner half of the head 53 may be used for reduced cutting widths by removing the outer head section 58.

In Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings, a modified form of power for the chains and heads is shown in the form of a 150 horsepower electric motor 70 to operate at around 900 R. P. M., and is mounted on the base with its shaft arranged vertically, and provided at opposite ends with gears 71 meshing with larger gears 72 mounted on the ends of vertical stub shafts 73 to provide a three to one gear reduction. Pairs of sprockets are mounted upon these stub shafts and upon a vertical shaft 74 with a pair of silent drive chains 75 trained thereon to drive the cutter chains 31 and 33. Thus, this type of machine is well adapted for low head room and all shafts thereof are arranged vertically and parallel to one another.

The cuttings from the vein in all forms of the invention, are pneumatically-vacuum collected at the face of the deposit near the base thereof by a pair of nozzles 112 arranged alongside of the cutting head and boom in Figs. 1 to 6, inclusive, with separate delivery branches 113 arranged parallel along one side of the machine 23 to join at the rear of the machine as shown in Fig. l. at the juncture of the delivery branches, a pneumatic tube 114 is joined thereto to convey the cuttings and dust longitudinally of the room 21, and lengths of pipe may be used or added to extend this pneumatic dispatch or conveyance to any point desired; Where the cuttings are delivered to solids from air separator 125, not over three feet tall, installed in the room. This separator and dust eliminator includes a closed separator and an eX- hauster 128 driven by an electric motor 129. Solids separated from the air stream are passed through a conveyor spout 132 from which they are deposited on a belt conveyor 137. This conveyor runs lengthwise of the room 21 to run the separated solids out to an endless conveyor 138 arranged above floor level in the passage 20 to the mine shaft.

From the foregoing description, it will be obvious that the cutting heads of all forms of the invention, will disintegrate or crush and pulverize the entire face of the deposit in a continuous sweeping movement and drop a mass of cuttings at the foot of the vein, without the usual undercutting, drilling and blasting. Also, the savings in the collection and transportation of the cuttings by pneumatic dispatch and separation of the ore by centrifugal forces will be apparent, as well as the low headroom made possible by the design and arrangements of the equipment.

In fact, because sylvinite ore runs in such small dimensioned veins which cannot be profitably mined with present-day large equipment, the compactness of etlicient machinery for this purpose is very essential. This is made possible with the combination of the disintegrating machine with the pneumatic dispatch and conveyance of the finely crushed ore out of the room being mined, together with the use of a machine which can burrow into the vein and remove from it no more than will admit said machine into the burrowed opening.

Features disclosed but not claimed herein have been claimed in the copending application of Haworth et al., Serial No. 337,792, filed February 19, 1953, for Mining Machine 2A, and owned by the present assignee.

We claim:

1. A mining machine comprising a skiddable base having hydraulic jacks at its corners and a hydraulically propelled platform extending horizontally from the rear end thereof and having a vertical opening therethrough for the reception of a pivot device fixed with respect to the floor of the mine room, a boom extending forwardly of said base and carrying a cutter drum on a vertical axis, said drum having a substantially continuous cylindrical surface and cutter bits distributed substantially uniformly over said cylindrical surface, means for rotating said drum, lateral outrigger arms extending from the sides of the machine, and cables arranged to be attached to the sides of the mine room and trained over said outrigger arms, and winches on said machine to feed and wind. said cables for swinging the machine upon said pivot device to move said drum in a horizontal arcuate path;

2 A mining machine comprising the combination of a base, swingable on. a pivot at its rear end, a boom extending forwardly thereof and carrying a cutter drum on a, vertical axis, means for rotating said drum, outrigger arms. extending laterally from opposite sides of said base and terminating at their outer ends in cable guides, and cables extending along the sides of said base and trained around guides at the forward end of said base :and adapted to be attached to opposite sides of the mine room, one of said cables being adapted to engage the guide of an outrigger arm when said base is swung on its pivot to a certain degree.

3. A mining, machine comprising in combination a base member having means at. its rear end for connection with a fixed pivot about which the base rotates in a cutting sequence in a mine room, a forwardly projecting boom supported from said base for movement therewith about the pivotal: axis and including widely spaced upper and lower endless drive chains with cutter bits secured there- 'to, a drum mounted on said boom for rotation by said chains about a vertical axis and having a cylindrical substantially contiguous surface, a plurality of removable cutter bits arranged substantially uniformly over the surface of said drum and cooperating with the chain bits to provide a wide cutter head for providing a continuous disintegrating action of an ore face against which the head is rotated during axial movement of the boom in a horizontal plane, means connecting the base with :at least two spaced surfaces of the mine room and arranged to impart a horizontal movement to the base about :said pivotal axis during progression of said disintegrating action, and means associated with said base for ad- :vancing said cutter from said pivotal axis independently (of said axial movement.

-4. A mining machine comprising in combination a "base member having means at its rear end for connection with a fixed pivot about which the base rotates in a cutting sequence in a mine room, a forwardly projecting boom supported from said base for movement therewith about the pivotal axis and including widely spaced upper and lower endless drive chains with cutter bits secured thereto, a drum mounted on said boom for rotation by said chains about a vertical axis and having a cylindrical substantially contiguous surface, a plurality of removable cutter bits arranged substantially uniformly over the surface of said drum and cooperating with the chain bits to provide a wide cutter head for providing a continuous disintegrating action of an ore face against which the head is rotated during axial movement of the boom in a horizontal plane, means connecting the base with at least two spaced surfaces of the mine room and arranged to impart a horizontal movement to the base about said pivotal axis during progression of said disintegrating action, and means associated with said base for retracting said cutter from said pivotal axis independently of said axial movement.

5. A mining machine comprising in combination a base member having means at its rear end for connection with a fixed pivot about which the base rotates in a cutting sequence in a mine room, a forwardly projecting boom supported from said base -for' movement therewith about the pivotal axis and including widely spaced upper and lower endless drive chains with cutter bits secured thereto, a drum mounted on said boom for totation by said chains about a vertical axis and having a cylindrical substantially contiguous surface,- a plurality of removable cutter bits arranged substantially uniformly over the surface of said drum and cooperating with the chain bits to provide a wide cutter head for providing a continuous disintegrating action of an ore face against which the head is rotated during axial movement of the boom in a horizontal plane, means connecting the base with at least two spaced surfaces of the mine room and arranged to impart a horizontal movement to the base about said pivotal axis during progression of said disintegrating action, and means associated with said base for advancing and retracting said cutter from said pivotal axis independently of said axial movement.

6. A mining machine comprising in combination a base member having means at its rear end for connection with a fixed pivot about which the base rotates in a cutting sequence in a mine room, a forwardly projecting boom supported from said base for movement therewith about the pivotal axis and including widely spaced upper and lower endless drive chains with cutter bits secured thereto, a drum mounted on said boom for rotation by said chains about a vertical axis and having a cylindrical substantially contiguous surface, a plurality of removable cutter bits arranged substantially uniformly over the surface of said drum and cooperating with the chain bits to provide a wide cutter head for providing a continuous disintegrating action of an ore face against which the head is rotated during axial movement of the boomin a horizontal plane, means connecting the base with at least two spaced surfaces of the mine room and arranged to impart a horizontal movement to the base about said pivotal axis during progression of said disintegrating action, means associated with said base for advancing said cutter from said pivotal axis independently of said axial movement, and means for changing the elevation of the base at a plurality of points throughout its length so as to vary the inclination of the boom in accordance with changes in the contour of the surface of the room over which said base is moved.

7, The method of mining an underground deposit such as sylvinite ore, which comprises extracting the ore in finely disintegrated condition along an essentially straight course through a portion of such a deposit in a succession of cutting actions in operating cycles, initially forming a four sided face with the spacing of its top and bottom bounds coinciding substantially with the thickness of the ore body being worked and the plane of the face being substantially arcuate, and in each cycle of operation sumping into the face along the line of a side bound by moving a rotary cylindrical cutter substantially coextensive with the elevation of the face in a forward movement relative to a fixed axis of rotation distant from said face, disintegrating the material of said face by repeated contact with a series of cutter bits positioned on the cylindrical cutter in an arrangement in which the entire area in the range of said cutter is contacted by at least one bit in each revolution, moving said rotating cutter progressively from said sumping in position transversely across the face along an arcuate path about said fixed axis and in disintegrating relation to the face, retracting the cutter when it is in alinement with the opposite side bound, and moving the cutter rapidly to the sumping in position of the next cycle of operation.

8. The method of mining an underground deposit such as sylvinite ore, which comprises extracting the ore in finely disnitegrated condition along an essentially straight course through a portion of such a deposit in a succession of cutting actions in operating cycles, initially forming a four sided face with the spacing of its top and bottom bounds coinciding substantially with the thickness of the ore body being worked and the plane of the face being substantially arcuate, and in each cycle of operation sumping into the face along the line of a side bound by moving a rotary cylindrical cutter substantially coextensive with the elevation of the face in a forward movement relative to a fixed axis of rotation distant from said face, said cutting being rotated counterclockwise about a vertical axis, disintegrating the material of said face by repeated contact with a series of cutter bits positioned on the cylindrical cutter in an arrangement in which the entire area in the range of said cutter is contacted by at least one bit in each revolution, moving said rotating cutter progressively from said sumping in position transversely across the face along an arcuate path about said fixed axis and in disintegrating relation to the face, retracting the cutter when it is in alinement with the opposite side bound, and moving the cutter rapidly to the sumping in position of the next cycle of operation.

9. The method of mining an underground deposit such as sylvinite ore, which comprises extracting the ore in finely disintegrated condition along an essentially straight course through a portion of such a deposit in a succession of cutting actions in operating cycles, initially forming a four sided face with the spacing of its top and bottom bounds coinciding substantially with the thickness of the ore body being Worked and the plane of the face being substantially arcuate, and in each cycle of operation sumping into the face along the line of a side bound by moving a rotary cylindrical cutter substantially coextensive with the elevation of the face in a forward movement relative to a fixed axis of rotation distant from said face, disintegrating the material of said face by repeated contact with a series of cutter bits positioned on the cylindrical cutter in an arrangement in which the entire area in the range of said cutter is contacted by at least one bit in each revolution, moving said rotating cutter progressively from said sumping in position transversely across the face along an arcuate path about said fixed axis and in disintegrating relation to the face, holding said cutter against retraction during said transverse movement, retracting the cutter when it is in alinement with the opposite side bound, and moving the cutter rapidly to the sumping in position of the next cycle of operation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,011,994 OToole Dec. 19, 1911 1,130,250 Boardman Mar. 2, 1915 1,143,897 Flexner et a1 June 22, 1915 1,148,974 Kuhn et al. Aug. 3, 1915 1,183,102 Morgan May 16, 1916 1,195,396 Recen Aug. 22, 1916 1,249,823 Pratt Dec. 11, 1917 1,276,249 Morgan Aug. 20, 1918 1,500,352 -Walker July 8, 1924 1,533,316 Holmes Apr. 14, 1925 1,549,699 Wilson Aug. 11, 1925 1,565,376 Levin Dec. 15, 1925 1,704,866 Morgan Mar. 12, 1929 1,741,134 Officer Dec. 24, 1929 1,999,261 Shultz et al. Apr. 30, 1935 2,033,471 Keenan Mar. 10, 1936 2,064,660 Haas Dec. 15, 1936 2,096,917 Pray Oct. 26, 1937 2,261,162 Joy Nov. 4, 1941 2,375,689 Reeder May 8, 1945 2,448,420 Davidson Aug. 31, 1948 2,612,363 Lee Sept. 30, 1952 

1. A MINING MACHINE COMPRISING A SKIDDABLE BASE HAVING HYDRAULIC JACKS AT ITS CORNERS AND A HYDRAULICALLY PROPELLED PLATFORM EXTENDING HORIZONTALLY FROM THE REAR END THEREOF AND HAVING A VERTICAL OPENING THERETHROUGH FOR THE RECEPTION OF A PIVOT DEVICE FIXED WITH RESPECT TO THE FLOOR OF THE MINE ROOM, A BOOM EXTENDING FORWARDLY OF SAID BASE AND CARRYING A CUTTER DRUM ON A VERTICAL AXIS, SAID DRUM HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY CONTINUOUS CYLINDRICAL SURFACE AND CUTTER BITS DISTRIBUTED SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORMLY OVER SAID CYLINDRICAL SURFACE, MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID DRUM, LATERAL OUTRIGGER ARMS EXTENDING FROM THE SIDES OF THE MACHINE, AND CABLES ARRANGED TO BE ATTACHED TO THE SIDES OF THE MINE ROOM AND TRAINED OVER SAID OUTRIGGER ARMS, AND WINCHES ON SAID MACHINE TO FEED AND WIND SAID CABLES FOR SWINGING THE MACHINE UPON SAID PIVOT DEVICE TO MOVE SAID DRUM IN A HORIZONTAL ARCUATE PATH. 